


Flightless

by SharkGirl



Series: Home [9]
Category: Haikyuu!!
Genre: Alternate Universe - Animal Hybrids, Angst with a Happy Ending, Animal Hybrid AU, Backstory, Cute, Family, Fluff, M/M, Sad, Sad with a Happy Ending
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-06-11
Updated: 2016-06-11
Packaged: 2018-07-14 08:56:31
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,167
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7164437
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SharkGirl/pseuds/SharkGirl
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>For as long as he could remember, Kageyama had been alone.</p><p>Prequel to Lost and Found</p>
            </blockquote>





	Flightless

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Not_Jazz](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Not_Jazz/gifts).



> C'mon, you all saw this coming, haha.  
> This is from Kageyama's POV. I hope you all like it!!
> 
> Special shout out to Not_Jazz for helping me come up with their living arrangements! Thanks!

For as long as he could remember, Kageyama had been alone.

He had his own private room – The Incubator, they called it – because, despite most of his DNA being human, he was unable to regulate his body temperature without the aid of full-body feathers.  He learned that, if he wrapped his wings around himself, he would be more comfortable.  But because of this mutation, he was unable to leave the safety of his room.

Scientists stopped by to run tests every day and there was an orderly who brought him his meals, but he was always alone.

He never felt lonely, though.  He’d never really thought about it.  That was just the way it was.

Until one day, when he was six, a smart-mouthed fox boy sneaked into his room.

“You’re really in here all by yourself?” he’d said, his fluffy tail swishing from side to side as he inspected Kageyama’s charts, nosing his way through the other’s business.  “I feel sorry for you, Tobio-chan.”

Four years passed after that and Kageyama kept remembering the older boy’s words.

_‘I feel sorry for you…’_

Why?  He had everything he needed.  He was taken care of.  He wanted for nothing.

 

A few weeks before his tenth birthday, the scientists perfected a serum that would allow his body to maintain its temperature without the aid of The Incubator.  He was moved to another room, where he discovered that he wasn’t the only crow hybrid.

His new room had two solid walls and two made of thick glass.  One was for perspective buyers to view him when making their choice on which hybrid to take home, and the other separated his room from his neighbor.

The first time he saw him – Hinata, he learned – he was perplexed.  Kageyama was tall and strong, with black hair and eyes, befitting of a majestic crow.  But Hinata was…small.  He was petite and had wild orange hair and warm brown eyes.  His wings were puny and matched perfectly with the rest of his scrawny body.

Still, despite his obvious inferiority, there was something about him.

Perhaps it was the way that, the moment Kageyama was led into his room, Hinata ran toward the glass and pressed his hands and face against it, his eyes practically sparkling as he stared at Kageyama.

He mouthed something, but Kageyama couldn’t hear him or read his lips, since they were smooshed against the glass, his breath fogging it.

From that day on, Hinata would go out of his way to try and get Kageyama’s attention, waving his arms like mad and flapping his wings as he beamed brightly, so bright Kageyama felt like he needed to shield his eyes.

But, even with the other crow – the only other crow as far as he knew – being so close, they never spoke.  Or, rather, Hinata spoke a lot, Kageyama just couldn’t hear him.

 

When they were fourteen, they were up for sale.  Each hybrid had a different ‘maturity date’ or age when they were able to go home with a ‘loving family.’

Hinata flitted around his room excitedly as the potential owners walked through the viewing area.  He couldn’t fly, neither of them could, a fact that certainly spelled ‘failure’ in Kageyama’s eyes, but the other boy was an amazing jumper.  He bounced high on his bed and leaped off of it, causing a young girl to squeal with delight as she watched, the sound of her voice muffled by the thick glass.

Most of the viewers shuffled quickly past Kageyama’s room, all of them looking anywhere but at him.  He scowled, wondering if they could sense his inability to fly and if that displeased them.

He heard a knocking on the glass and turned to see Hinata waving at him again.

“What do you want?” he asked, knowing the other couldn't hear him.

Hinata smiled brightly and dug his index fingers into his cheeks. Then he held his hands out toward Kageyama, blinking as he waited for something.

“What?” Kageyama shrugged.

The other boy rolled his eyes and pointed toward his mouth, a huge grin appearing.

Oh.  So that was it.  He wanted him to smile.

Well, he wasn’t used to it, but if it made any potential owners happy, he’d give it a shot.

His lips curled up and he showed his teeth, the corners of his eyes crinkling.  He turned toward Hinata and watched as the other boy dropped his hands to his sides, his eyes going wide and his smile disappearing.  Kageyama couldn’t hear him, but he could read his lips as Hinata mouthed,

_‘Oh. Never mind.’_

Kageyama wiped the ‘smile’ from his face and narrowed his eyes, his mouth set in its usual scowl.

Dumbass.

 

Nearly four years went by like that.  People coming to see them, their eyes wide and expectant before the light in them dimmed when they saw that Kageyama and Hinata couldn’t fly.

What was the point of getting a bird if it didn’t fly?

Kageyama had given up hope.  They weren’t going to find homes.  They were going to age out of the program soon – Hinata, six months before him – and then they’d be out on the street or worse, sold as workers to companies needing extra hands.  Those jobs provided little or no pay and rarely offered a roof over their heads.

It was death sentence.

 

Kageyama wasn’t sure how he knew, but he had a feeling Hinata’s birthday was coming up.  The other boy was restless, showing off as best he could for the few people who bothered to come to their viewing area.  Most had heard that they were failures and avoided wasting their time there.

He watched Hinata bounce high on his bed and do a somersault in the air.

“Dumbass,” he muttered. “Don’t bother. We can’t fly.”

And then he saw Hinata do something he’d never tried before.  He jumped up off his bed and then on top of a cabinet, launching himself high into the air.  He gripped onto the supports between ceiling tiles and smiled down at the crowd that had accumulated.

Their rooms had extremely high ceilings, as they were designed to showcase birds of flight.  Hinata was easily three storeys up.  He dropped his lower body and spread his wings, flapping them a few times.

“What’s that dumbass doing?” Kageyama walked over to the glass that separated their rooms.  “Get down from there, you idiot.” He drew his brows down. Hinata was going to get himself killed.

The shorter man flashed a bright smile at the crowd and then let go.  He flapped his wings to slow his descent, but he was still falling too fast.  Kageyama watched as Hinata’s cheerful expression turned to one of panic and then he was on the ground, motionless.

“Hinata!” Kageyama banged on the glass.

No.  What just happened? He wasn’t gone.  He couldn't be.

Sure he was annoying as hell and scrawny and a failure like him, but…

“HINATA!” He pounded the glass harder, willing it to break so he could run to him.  So he could make sure he was alright.

A second later, a nurse came in.  Kageyama knew him.  He used to come in with his father when he was younger.  He was only a few years older than them.

The ashen-haired man leaned down over Hinata and checked his pulse. Kageyama let out the breath he was holding when the nurse pulled back and smiled in relief.

Slowly, Hinata pulled himself up on shaky limbs.  Nothing appeared to be broken, but he had some nasty bruises already forming on his knees and elbows.  He waved to the crowd, who cheered, but quickly broke apart to view other birds.

The nurse – Suga-something…Sugawara? – put one of Hinata’s arms over his shoulders and helped him walk toward the bed, before he sat him down and grabbed a first aid kit.

Hinata turned around on the mattress, facing Kageyama, his nose bleeding slightly, but a smile plastered on his face.

_‘I flew.’_

 

Hinata wasn’t there when Kageyama woke up the next morning.

He didn’t miss him.  Not his boundless energy or his stupid ever-present smile.

No. Kageyama was born alone. He was fine.

A few weeks passed and he noticed that less and less people were bothering to walk by his viewing area.  Which suited him just fine.  No one wanted him, so he was resigned to the fact that he was going to be tossed aside.

He looked over at Hinata’s room, dark and empty.

_‘I feel sorry for you.’_

Kageyama put his hands over his ears and curled up on his side, wrapping his wings around himself like he used to do when he was a child.

He must have fallen asleep because, when he opened his eyes, the artificial light was brighter, signaling the start of a new day.  He rolled over and scrubbed his face with his hands, bracing himself for the brighter-than-the-sun smile and obnoxious waving coming from the other side of the glass.

But when he looked, no one was there.

“Oh, that’s right.”

Hinata was gone.

Had he been sold off to do manual labor somewhere?  He was so small and weak.  Who would buy him?  Or maybe they just threw him out onto the street.  Was he in an alley, picking through the trash for his next meal?  Summer would be over soon.  Did he have a warm place to sleep?

Kageyama’s thoughts were interrupted when he heard the sound of his door clicking open.  He turned and saw the nurse who’d helped Hinata.

“Hi there, Kageyama-” he began, but was cut off by a redheaded ball of energy.

“Kageyama!” Hinata cheered as he bounded into the room.  “Sorry we took so long!”

He looked between Hinata and Suga, blinking in confusion.

“What?”

“We’re here to take you home,” Hinata said, his smile as radiant as Kageyama remembered. No, more so.

“It took a while to acquire the funds, but with your age, the discount really helped,” Suga offered, giving a refreshing smile – not as bright as Hinata’s, but close.

“Did you find him?” another voice joined in and then a third person walked into the room.  He was a little shorter than Suga, with closely-cropped dark brown hair.  “You must be Kageyama.” He turned to face him. “We’ve heard a lot about you.” He looked over at Hinata, whose cheeks tinted the lightest shade of pink before he scratched the back of his head.

“You…have?”

“Hinata’s been going on and on about rescuing you since we took him home.”

“They had to take me first because I’m older,” Hinata explained and Kageyama understood that his ‘expiration date’ came sooner than his own.  “But we’re here for you now, so please don’t be mad.”

“Mad?” He furrowed his brow. “Why would I be mad?”

“See, isn’t he great?” Hinata asked, beaming again.  “Hey.” He faced him. “It sounds just like I thought it would.”

Again, Kageyama was confused.  It didn’t  help that he’d only just woken up.

“What does?”

“Your voice.” Hinata’s eyes softened and Kageyama felt his heart skip a beat. “Gruff and deep and grouchy.”

And as quickly as their moment had begun, it was over.

“Shut up, you dumbass!”

“Hey, that was a compliment!” Hinata ducked when Kageyama lunged at him, and hid behind Suga.  “Save me, Suga-san!”

“Kageyama, we’ve met before,” the nurse said. “I’m Sugawara Koushi and this is Sawamura Daichi.”

“His husband!” Hinata cheered and both their faces flushed.

“No he isn’t,” Suga sputtered and then looked sheepishly at Daichi. “Not yet, anyway.”

“You guys are so mushy.” Hinata laughed and Daichi ruffled his hair.  The three of them looked good, like they belonged together.

It evoked something, but Kageyama couldn’t think of the word.

“I’ve got his papers right here.” Daichi held up a manila envelope.  “So, how about it, Kageyama?”

“Want to join our little family?” Suga placed his hands on Hinata’s shoulders.

_‘Family.’_

That was it.

Even though Daichi and Suga couldn’t be much older than them, they looked like parents – something else Kageyama had only read about.

Hinata pulled away and held his hands out.

“Come on, Kageyama.” He cocked his head to the side. “Let’s go home.”

His body was moving before he could stop it. Years of seeing and never being able to touch. The memory of Hinata’s body falling and lying crumpled and lifeless on the ground. All of it.

Kageyama pulled Hinata into a tight hug, his wings flaring out before wrapping around them.

“It feels just like I thought it would,” he breathed, his chin resting on top of Hinata's head.

“Kageyama…”

“Scrawny and bony,” he added when he felt Daichi and Suga’s eyes on them.

“Hey!” Hinata pushed at his chest and glared up at him.  “That’s not-”

“Shut up, dumbass. And come help me pack.”

“Oh, okay, I’ll just-” He stopped and then pouted. “Don’t call me dumb!”

 

And that was how Kageyama’s blissful family life began.

**Author's Note:**

> Aww, the cutest little murder*
> 
> Let me know what you think and hit me up on tumblr [@jubesy](http://jubesy.tumblr.com)!  
> Also, this is my last night I have to write for a while, so I may not be able to update as often for the rest of this month. I won't stop writing, though!!
> 
> *group of crows


End file.
